The Fan
by Sarabi07
Summary: It's a cute AoshiXMisao fic. It sorta has a fairy tale kinda feel to it. Please read and review, it would be really helpful if you did!


Disclaimer- I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I mean duh. If I did own it do you think I would be putting my stories on here? No! I'd sell them and make even more money! HAHAHAHA......but I don't so I can't....bummer...  
  
Early A.N.- Whenever you see this guy - ( that means I made a note about at the bottom.  
  
The Fan  
  
Aoshi sat solemnly across from his mother. Even sitting in the plush velvet lined carriage, he felt like a prisoner. His nineteenth birthday had passed three weeks ago and it was time for his betrothed marriage. Since he was nine he had been betrothed to a girl of the country next to his own. Their parents had decided that once the young prince and princess married they would be able to combine the two allied countries.  
  
Ever since that day no one in the whole palace had gotten anything more than a smirk from him. His father died a year after and his mother ran the country until he was of age. She tried many times to get him to smile but the most he would give her was a slight smirk. So now they sat, trotting there way the next country, and Aoshi to his last days as a single man.  
  
They got there late at night and were quickly ushered to two rooms in the western wing of the house. His mother was led into one suite while he was lead to one all his own. He walked in to the room dimly lit by one candle. "Will you be needing anything else Aoshi-sama?" the servant asked with his eyes downcast. Aoshi looked around the room. "No" he stated calmly. The servant bowed and left closing the door behind him. Aoshi opened one of his bags to get his sleeping clothes out. Lying on top of his clothes were his two kodachi's.  
  
Though he had been a quiet reserved child, he always did enjoy swords. He looked next to his short swords. Lying there was a two small hand guards. The princess of this country sent them to him for his nineteenth birthday as an engagement present. Following his mother advice he sent her something back. His mother told him to send her a fan. "All ladies after they get of marrying age have fans to cover their faces when young men are about." He remembered her telling him.  
  
He set out the next day looking for a fan he thought would be appropriate. He searched through the whole main village for a fan when finally that night he found one. It had black sticks with gold flowers and decorations on it. He slowly opened the fan. It was laced with red and black, red roses adorning it. In the middle was the kanjii for queen. Aoshi pulled on his nightclothes and climbed into the bed. He blew out the candle and lied on his back. 'Tomorrow is the ball where I meet her'...  
  
The next day Aoshi woke up before the sun had completely risen. He took a shower and put on his ninja-training outfit. He figured he could go for a short walk in the huge gardens he saw on the way up. He stepped out in the hallway to see no one. He closed his door and walked down the hallway towards the staircase. His steps making no sound as he walked he could hear people in the rooms he passed. 'Probably early guest from other lands for the ball' he walked down the steps and turned the way he believed was the correct one. He walked for another five minutes before he finally admitted he was lost. He figured the most logical thing to do was to come back the way he came, so he turned on his heel and started walk back.  
  
Suddenly he heard footsteps coming from behind him. He glanced behind him to see a girl with a long braid hanging down her back come running towards him. She ran passed him but skidded to a stop and came back. "Hey mister could you help me out?" she asked. Before he could answer the girl pulled him to the wall and hid behind him. Three women came at a small trot from the way the girl had come, but stopped when they saw him. They all bowed and the one in the middle stepped up. "Excuse me sir, but have you seen a girl with long hair run down here?" She asked. Aoshi opened his mouth when he felt a poke in his back. "Yes I did see her." He heard a growl come from behind him. "But she ran pass me." The three women nodded and kept going. 'She did run pass me, but I never said anything about her coming back so it's not really a lie.'  
  
Once they were out of site the girl came from behind him. "Arigatou." She said scratching her head. She looked him up and down. "I've never seen you here before. You must be with one of the guest." Aoshi looked her up and down. She had bright blue eyes and wild bangs.((1) She had on a stitched together outfit and small black shoes. 'Must be a servant' "You could say that." He stated in his emotionless voice. She smiled brightly. "Well then since you helped me, I'll help you! You seemed to be lost when I came running in so what are you looking for?"  
  
Aoshi looked down at the girl. "The gardens." "Oh I can take you there. I was headed there myself! It's where I go to train or to just think sometimes." Her smile faltered a bit and then turned into a quizzical smile. "The plainest route would be out the front but that's the way the fun police headed." Aoshi quirked an eyebrow and inwardly smirked at her name for the three women.  
  
She grabbed his hand and started to head the way she came from. She turned and smiled brightly at him. "Come on we can go the back way." She pulled him at a small trot which was really only walking slightly faster than usual for him.  
  
He looked at the petit girl. Her height and build made her look no older than 12 or 13, but looking at the shapes and curves of her body he could tell she was probably only a few years younger than him. She was very cheerful and had the most beautiful blue eyes. He himself had been told he had his fathers' eyes with his own icy touch in them. But his eyes were nothing in compare with the ocean blue ones of the girl that was leading him now.  
  
Finally after five minutes of walking they finally reached the gardens. She led him through the groves to a small clearance. In the middle there was a huge fountain with water spitting up. Around the fountain sat four benches on each side. When they arrived the girl let go of his hand. She ran to the fountain and instead of sitting on the bench she threw her shoes off and sat on the side of the fountain with her feet in the water. He watched her until she glanced over her shoulder at him. "I always love coming out here. Very few people outside of the royalty know it exists and the royals are always to busy to come and enjoy it. I usually come out here to practice with my kunai but-"  
  
"You use kunai?" Aoshi asked.  
  
The girls smiled brightly. "Yep I've been trained since I could walk. My mother didn't want it but my father told her that I should learn how to protect myself. Do you train in something?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What do you train in?"  
  
"Kenpo."  
  
"What weapon do you use?"  
  
"Kodachi's."  
  
"Do you ever say more than one word in a statement?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Mou!" the girl frowned. Aoshi sat down on the bench in front of her. They sat in silence with the girls' unhappy ki crackling in the air when finally, "Sometimes." The girl looked up in bewilderment. "I'll use more than one word if I have to or if the person is someone I actually want to talk with." He said. The girl smiled brightly.  
  
Aoshi sat there, listening to the girl talk about her family and life in the palace, hanging on her every word as if each letter was worth millions. She continued talking until the clock tower that sat on top of the castle rang seven times.((2) "OH CRAP! I was supposed to be back at the palace by six." She said waving her are ms in the air. She took her feet out of the fountain put them on the side. She shook them off before reaching down to grab her shoes. Only she fell over reaching for her shoes. Aoshi saw out the corner of his eye and jumped over the bench to catch her.  
  
He picked her up and sat her back down on the ground. The girl had light flush to her cheeks. "Arigatou." She whispered softly. She picked up her shoes and started to run towards the exit of the garden. 'Her name' "Wait!" Aoshi yelled out. The girl turned around and continued running backwards. "What is your name?" he yelled out. The girl smiled again. "You can call me Misa-chan!" she yelled back and kept running. Aoshi smirked a small smirk before he realized he also had to get ready for the ball.  
  
He ran the way she came but when he got to the front door of the palace she was already gone. He walked up to west wing and into his room. After taking a shower and getting everything on except his bow tie and jacket he heard a knock at his door. "Enter." The door opened slowly and his mother came in. She stood there as tears started to well up in her eyes.  
  
"Aoshi-chan I can't believe you're so big. You're all grown up and getting ready to get married. It seems like it was just yesterday your kodachi was to heavy for you to even pick up." She said with a slight giggle. Aoshi looked at his mother with his same emotionless face but his features softened. She walked towards him and tied his tie.  
  
"Your father would have been so proud to see you at this moment. He always use to say that you were gonna be fine king and I never doubted that." She smiled at him and patted his head. "Hurry up Aoshi-chan. You don't want to be late for your engagement ball." Aoshi heard her leave as he sighed. 'Oh yeah I'm getting married to girl I don't know. She probably is stuck up and nothing like Misa.' He smiled inwardly at the thought of the genki servant girl. 'I wonder why she never mentioned the princess? She only talked about the king and queen.' Aoshi slid on his jacket and buttoned it up. He walked out of the room and headed for the ballroom.  
  
When he got there giggling girls behind fans automatically swamped him. He looked amongst the fans and didn't see the one he bought so he excused himself much to the girls' dismay. He walked past the floor and stood against the wall until he saw familiar red hair. He walked over owner of the hair and tapped his shoulder. The person turned around to reveal a short man of royalty. "Ahh Aoshi-san! It's good to see you again. Congratulations on the engagement de gozarou!" he said cheerfully.  
  
Aoshi nodded. "Arigatou Himura-san." Kenshin smiled as a woman with hair pulled up into a bun and a blue dress on. She had a blue fan with cherry blossoms and firefly's on it. She closed the fan revealing Kenshin's wife. "Konbonwa Shinimori-san." She said gracefully. Aoshi smirked inwardly wondering how long it took Kenshin to convince her to come and dress up. "Konbonwa Queen Karou-san." He saw the women blush slightly and Kenshin squeeze her hand lovingly.  
  
Suddenly he caught it. Across the room he saw a red fan being held by a girl in a red dress. The dress was off the shoulder and long. Her hair was swept up but her bangs were long and covered her eyes. Aoshi walked over to that side of the room trying to get a better view. He noticed she had small rose buds in her hair. 'Must be from the gardens' He walked up to her and bowed. "Konbonwa your highness." He said. The princess curtsied, not looking up so he could see her eyes. "My name is Shinimori Aoshi. I'm your- "he started. "My fiancée, I know. My name is Makamichi Misao." She stated with know emotion.  
  
Aoshi sighed silently as the girl lifted her eyes to look at him. He prepared for the worst when he was met with ocean blue. The princess gasped. "YOU'RE AOSHI?!?!?" she yelled. She dropped her fan only to have it caught by Aoshi. He grabbed and handed back to her finally able to see her complete face. His eyes widened when he looked in the face of Misa. "I thought you said your name was Misa?" he asked. Misao smiled. "I don't use my name when I talk to servants. They realize I'm royalty then expect me to act differently." She said.  
  
Aoshi grabbed her hand and did something he had not done in ten years. He smiled softly at the girl. "I'm glad that you are the way you are." He said softly. The music changed and Misao pulled him onto the dance floor.  
  
With you, I can let my hair down  
  
I can say anything crazy  
  
I know you'll catch me right before I hit the ground  
  
With nothin' but a T-shirt on  
  
I've never felt so beautiful baby as I do now  
  
Now that I'm with you  
  
When the song ended everyone clapped for the two. She walked back to the side they were standing at while Aoshi went for drinks. Misao smiled at her soon-to-be husband when she felt someone behind her. She whipped around to see a man standing there. "Oh it's just you Shuko. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."  
  
Shuko grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him. "Don't think that just because your getting married that anything changes Misao. You will be mine." He said forcefully. Misao struggled to get out of his grip. "I'll tell you like I've told you before. I have no interest in stalkers like you!" she said ending it with kick to his groin. He let go of her wrist stumbling back. He snarled and raised up to hit her when he abruptly fell over unconscious.  
  
Misao moved out of the way to see Aoshi with a icy glare at the man. He looked at Misao who had a huge grin on her face. "I think I'm starting to fall in love with you." Aoshi merely grinned. She took his hand and began leading him somewhere. He didn't know where, and he didn't really care as long as he was going with her.   
  
(1- I don't know I always thought he bangs were wild whenever she was in her fighting gear.  
  
(2- You know those bells that ring the hour. Like it rings two times so it 2 o'clock? Yeah it's like that.  
  
A.N.= The song is Jessica Simpson's "With You"  
The fan Aoshi bought her is actually based on one I bought my mother last Christmas. Only hers' says "Special Lady" in cursive instead of kanjii. If it had it in kanjii I would have probably kept it for myself.   
  
That's it! It's supposed to be a one shot happy fairy tale ending but I don't know. I feel like it should go farther. I would love some feedback on what to do. Love and Peace! Sasuke( 


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